Manifolding device



June 1, 1937. w. G. BORCHERS MANIFOLDiNG DEVICE Filed July 16, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

June 1, 1937.. w. s. BORCHERS MANIFOLDING DEVICE Filed July 16, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 1, 1937. w. e. BORCHERS MANIFOLDING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 16, 1931 ORNEY Patented June 1 i937 STATE arent nanny 2&32329 MANWOLDMG DEVICE Application July 16, 1931, Serial No. 551,076

13 Claims. (Gt. 197-133) This invention relates to manifolding devices for typewriters, and more particularly, to fiat bed typewriters such as the Elliott-Fisher book typewriter. a An object of this invention is to provide an attachment for such typewriters 'whereby they may be adapted for use with continuous forms.

In the use of such machines, the long continuous strips of paper, upon which the writing operations are to be performed and which usually each includes a succession of printed forms having aligning apertures at the foot of .each form, are stored at the rear of the machine and fed upwardly and forwardly over the typewriter frame to a platen to receive writing operations.

At the part of the typewriter nearest the operator, there is provided a tear-oil knife so that the written set of forms can be severed from the next adjacent set. At this point also, there is provided a pair of aligning pins to receive the aligning apertures at the foot of each form. v

To advance the strips, the operator releases the knife, which also acts to clamp the paper 'to the platen, grasps the ends of the forms, and

, 25 pulls the strips through tn machine until the next set of apertures reach t e aligning pins and are impaled thereon, after which theknife is allowed to again engage the paper and hold it a while the written set of forms are torn along 30 the ease of the knife.

Heretoiore, it was proposed to provide for each of the strips a mechanical device for drawing the strip back so that the front margins of the apertures will engage the pins and so that the 5 strips will be held taut on the platen.

These individual tensioning devices, in addition to making the device more complicated,

make the loading of the machine more involved,

and difficult for the operator, for each separate 4,0 strip has to be threaded through its individual back-drag or tensioning device beiore it is placed on the platen.

Moreover, the active resistance of each tensioning device has to be overcome during the 45 entire advancing movement of the paper strips and the effort which the operator must expend in advancing the strips is' accordingly the sum total of the resistances offered by the tensioning device plus the work required to unwindlthe pa- -50 per from a spool, or take it oif some other source of supply, and lift it to the elevation of the typewriter platen, all of which effort must be continuously expended during the entire paper feeding operation.

s5 According to the present invention. the individual back-drag producing devices are dispensed with, and one single device is used for all of the strips. Moreover, the-back-drag device only comes lnto play when the apertures in the strips are approaching the aligning pins 5 at the delivery side of the typewriter and for the initial advancing movement as they are leaving the pins in the advancing of the next form.

Hence, during the major portion of the strip advancement, the back-drag producing device 10 offers no active resistance to the advancing movement of the paper strips.

A further feature of this invention is the provision of a supporting frame for the attachment so arranged that the back-d ag producing device may be adjusted to various positions thereon to accommodate forms-of different lengths.

And a still further-feature of this invention is the provision of a supporting cradle for a multiple ply spool of webs which, While permanently connected to the attachment, is, nevertheless, supported directly by a structural part of the typewriter frame.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. j

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of my invention, that is at present preferred- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fiat platen typewriter with portions of the typewriter framebrokenaway to show the attachment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of part of the attachment of the present invention, showing the aligning means and the deflector adjusted to different positions from those shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pedestal and writing bed of a book typewriter, showing the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 4 is a similar view, looking at the device from the front or operators side.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the positions of the paper strips, tear-off knife, and back-drag and tensioning device of the present invention, during the advancement of a set of forms overthe platen and just before the pins of the present invention enter the apertures.

Fig. 6 is a similar view but shows the strips still further advanced and requiring but a short movement to complete the advancement.

Fig.1 is a view similar to Figs; 5 and 6, but J Fig. 8 shows the strips as having been released by the operator and the written form torn off, the tear-off knife having engaged the strips to hold them during the writing operation.

Fig. 9 is a similar view, showing how the aligning pins of the present invention are automaticallyreleased during the beginning of the advancing movement.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the rear end of the present attachment, showing the manner in which continuous strips from a zigzag folded pile are used with the attachment.

The typewriter to which the disclosed embodiment of the present invention is applied is the well known Elliott-Fisher typewriter. It comprises the-usual pedestal-like frame it) supporting tracks or rails H between which there is mounted a platen 12 on which worksheet strips i3 are supported in interleaved condition with carbon strips it to receive type impressions from a printing device i5 movable back and forth and across the platen.

.In this type of machine, the paper strips i3 remain undisturbed on the platen i2 during the writing of a form i6 which is usually printed and of which each strip i3 contains a succession, the

spacing between letters and lines being effected.

by the movement of the printing device l5 over the platen. Consequently, it is only after a set of forms has been written and is ready to be severed from the one following that the strips are advanced.

As usual, the strips i3 are provided with registering apertures l'i, two located near the foot of each form, and these apertures are adapted to engage aligning pins it at the delivery side of the platen to locate the strips in proper position on the platen and to register the strips relative to one another. The strips it are held on the aligning pins l8 by a bar is, the front 20 of which has a knife edge along which the strips are torn to sever a written set of strips from the set following. The tear-off knife i9 is pivotally mounted so that it may be moved from the position shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8, to those shown in Figs. 5, 6, '7 and 9, so as to allow the adiacent edges of a set of strips to be grasped by hand and lifted off the pins I8 to be drawn forwardly or toward the operator until the next set of apertures i7 is over the aligning pins i8, whereupon the tear-off knife is allowed to descend and grip the strips so that they may be torn off along the knife edge 20.

With such devices, it was heretofore proposed to provide a tension and back-drag producing device for each one of the strips l3 so that after the strips were impaled upon the pins l8, they would each be, drawn back separately to bring the edges-of the apertures l1 against the front edges of the pins and to keep the strips taut on the platen l2 during the writing operation. With this arrangement, however, it was necessary that'the active resistance of each of the tensioning .and back-drag producing devices had to be overcome by the operator during the entire advancing movement of the strips. It was also necessary, in preparing the machine for use with a new supply of paper, to threadeach indi-' vidual strip through its own tension and backdrag producing device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tensioning and back-drag producing device common to all of the strips and through back-drag producing device which does not actively resist paper advancement by the operator during the major portions of the advancing of the strips but only just before a fresh set of forms reaches its writing position and just at the beginning of the next paper advancing operation, thereby avoiding the work and accompanying fatigue attendant-:upon the advancement in the prior proposals having individual back-drag producing devices for each strip which ofier active resistance to the strips for the entire paper advancing movement.

These objects of the present invention are attained in an extremely simple and expeditious manner, and for this purpose the present invention provides at the introductory side of the platen i2 a pair of pins 2| mounted on a shaft 22 having hearings in side plates 23 of the frame of. the attachment. The shaft 22 is mounted for oscillatory movement and has an arm 24 connected to a spring 25 having its other end anchored by screws 26 in the side plates 23. The spring 25 normally, tends to rock the shaft 22 so that the pins 2i are directed rearwardly as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and will be in position to enter the aligning apertures IT in the strips It as the strips are advanced.

If the strips 93 approach the pins 21 in an upwardly direction, the weight of the depending portions of the strips behind the strips will cause the strips to be urged toward the pins so as to fall onto the shaft 22 when the pins 2! enter the apertures i'l. However, since it is not always possible to have the strips so approach the pins 2!, the present invention provides a deflector bar 2'! directly to the rear of and below the shaft 22 and pins 2| to cause the path of the strips to be tortuous over the pins 2|. Hence, the tendency of the strips to straighten out when pulled forwardly will cause the strips to be pulled down on the pins 2| so that they will enter the approach ing apertures IT, as shown in Fig. 6.

When this occurs, the continued advancement of the strips causes the shaft 22 to be rocked by dragging the pins along with the strips and this continues until the apertures I! at the delivery end of the platen extendover the aligning pins I8, as shown in Fig. 7, at which time the advancing operation is completed and the knife bar I9 is allowed to descend toward the platen; However, before the knife l9 reaches the platen to grip the strips 18, the strips are released by the operator and are all drawn back by the pins 2i due to the factthat the spring 25 tends constantly to rock the shaft and pins in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 5 to 9. This retrograde movement of the strips causes the leading edges of the apertures H to be brought into firm contact with the forward surfaces of the pins l8 and stretches the strips tightly on the platen, so that they will be held in this position during the writing operation. When the knife bar is has reached the position shown in Fig. 8, the written set of forms is drawn upwardly over the knife edge 20 to sever them from the portions of the strips impaled on the pins l8.

After the set of forms has been written upon and when it is desired to advance it to be severed,

' that the apertures are free from the pins. This having, been done, thespringJS draws the pins 20 With the device of the 2! backwardly under the pile of strips to the position shown in Fig. 5, where the pins are ready to engage the next set of registering apertures l7, and this movement of the pins is facilitated by 5 the rear sides of the pins being tapered on.

In addition to the advantages above referred to, by having the strips suddenly, yet gently and yieldingly impaled on the pins 2i just as the end of the advancing movement is approached, the operator, feeling the aware that the full form-length is almost completely advanced and may therefore continue the rest of the advancing means more slowly and carefully so as not to over-draw the strips too far. of course, the extent of withdrawal movement of the strips in the device of the present invention is not critical, and should the strips be overdrawn a little too far, the pins 2! will draw them bac to the proper position shown inFig. 7.

present invention, the location of the pins 2! is, of course, preferably a form-length or a multiple thereof from the pins it so that the same apertures ill may be used on both the pins 26 and the pins it. Therefore,

:5 in order that the attachment maybe used with any of the various standard length forms, the side plates 23 are provided with spaced bearings 28 for the ends of the shaft 22 and spaced tapped 26 which anchor one end of the spring 25. In addition to this, the frame plates 23 have holes for a tie rod 3i which is employed to prevent spreading of the frame near the place where the shaft 22 is journalled. The frame has also tapped holes 32 for a stop screw 3 33 which limits the rearward movement of the pin shaft 22.

The pins M are so shaped at their rear sides that when they have been swung forwardly, as shown in Fig. 9 and are disengaged by the aper- I tures, they very easily cam up the pile of strips and move to their rearward position, shown in Fig In the broader aspects of this inventibn, the paper may be supplied to the device in any suitable way, and it may be either rolled'or folded. As .shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the paper strips l3 are wound on a single spool 36. According to the present invention, this spool is supported in a cradle comprising lower tie rods 36. The side arms have notches 37! into which a shaft 38 for the spool 34 may pass to be supported thereby. The upper end of the cradle is connected to the side plates 23 of the attachment by screws 39, but is, however, not supported thereby. It is instead supported on a cross rod w of the typewriter frame having for this purpose hook-shaped portions 4 I one on each of the arms 85. v

The multiple ply spool 84 is kept from casual unwinding by a weight bar 42 slidably mounted in slots 43 in the side arms 35 of the cradle. This weight bar 42 has reduced end portions fitting the slots 43 and does not turn but merelyslides over the surface of the spool 36 of paper, and in this way offers sufiicient resistance to the turning novement of the spool to prevent the spool from :eing unwound too rapidly asthe paper is drawn 'herefrom.

Thestrips of paper after leaving the spool 3t extend upwardly and forwardly to pass over the )in shaft 22.

'I'lie'device of the present invention is also well apted for use with folded stationery such as he zig-zag folded pack 34a shown in Fig. 10. iuch a pack is supported on the end of a table,

added resistance, becomes the worksheet strips normally side arms 35 and upper anddelivery side or some other suitable support, so that the strips coming from the back may extend upwardly to the attachment. When folded stationery is used, it is preferable that instead directly to the pin shaft 22, they extend upwardly over'the guide bar Ml located at the rear end of the machine. The pack 38a is located under this guide rod so that-when the vanced, they will not inadvertently pull several layers off the pile. The use of the guide rod it also insures that the strips will, after passing under the deflector 2'5, extend upwardly and forwardly over the pin shaft 22 to have its apertures engaged by the pins it. v

To'guide the strips laterally, the guide bar M and the pin shaft 22 may, as illustrated herein, be provided with flanged collars d5. At its front end, the frame of the attachment is provided with a lug 36 extending over astrucural part M of the typewriter to support the attachment thereon. At the rear, the attachment is supported by the tie rod 50 of the typewriter engaging the hook-shaped portions i l of the cradle which in turn is fastened to the plates 23 by thescr'ews 39. To keep the frame down on these parts, each side plate 23 is provided with an angular clamping member 38 which engages the end portions of the rails ii and is secured in placeto the frame by a wing nut 49.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:

l. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with aligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, a rotatable shaft with a pair of aligning pins located at the rear of introductory side of the platen on which pins ride engaging the same solely by gravity and travel without'active resistance therefrom until the apertures in the strips are entered by the pins, said rear aligning pins being mounted for rotary movement in the direction of strip travel and being moved by only the strips during the final advancing movement thereof, said rear aligning pins being located with respect to the aligning pins at the of the platen was to remain in engagement before, while, and just after, another set of apertures is in a position to engage the aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen, said rear aligning pins being normally urged to move in a direction counter to the advancing movement of the strips and imparting to the strips when engaged in the apertures a tendency toward retrograde movement to tension the strips while the strips are held on the aligning pins at the delivery end of the platen.

2. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement withaligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, a pair of intercepting and aligning pins located at the rear or introductory side of the platen over which the worksheet strips normally travel without active of the strips passing.

with the aligning apertures just resistance until the apertures in the strips are entered thereby, said rear aligning pins being mounted for movement in the direction of strip travel anddaeing moved by only the strips during the final advancing movement thereof, said rear aligning pins being located with respect to the aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen'so as to remain in engagement with the aligning apertures just before, while, and just after, another set of apertures is in a position to engage the aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen, said rear aligning pins being normally urged to move in a direction counter to the advancing movement of the strips and imparting to the strips'when engaged in the apertures a tendency toward retrograde movement, said rear pins being disengaged from the apertures in the strips by the initial advancing movement of the strips and when-free from the apertures moving rearwardly under the strips to a position subsequently to engage the next set of apertures.

3. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with aligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, comprising a single set of aligning pins at the introductory or rear side of the platen released from the strips solely by movement of the strips.

4. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with aligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, comprising a single set of aligning pins at the introductory or rear side of the platen, said rear aligning pins being mounted for oscillation to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips and being normally urged rearwardly to impart to the strips a tendency toward retrograde movement when engaged with the aligning apertures in the strips.

5. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with aligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, comprising a single set of aligning pins at the introductory or rear side of the platen, said rear aligning pins being mounted for oscillation to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips andbeing normally urged rearwardly to impart to the strips a tendencytoward retrograde move- ,ment when engaged withthe aligning apertures in the strips, and means adjacent the rear aligning pinsat the introductory side of the platen for causing the worksheet strips to follow a tortuous path intercepting the arc of movement of the pins whereby the pins are caused to enter the apertures as a result of the tendency of the strips to straighten their paths as the strips are being advanced over the platen.

6. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning 'pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with ing said frame to the frame work of the typewriter.

7. A typewriter having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced formlength extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon and having aligning pins at the delivery side of the platen for engagement with aligning holes provided at form-length intervals in the worksheet strips, comprising a single set of aligning pins at the introductory or rear side of the platen; a shaft on which said rear pins are mounted for oscillatory movement to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips; a deflector adjacent said shaft and tending to cause the strips to be urged toward the rear pins in their advancing movements; a frame attachable to the typewriter frame in which said shaft and deflector are mounted, said frame having spaced bearings for the shaft and deflector form-length extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at form-length intervals; a r0- tatable shaft; a pair of aligning pins on said shaft located at the introductory side of the platen on which pins the worksheet strips rest and engage solely by gravity and travel without active resistance from the pins until the apertures in the strips are entered by the pins, said aligning pins being mounted for rotary movement in the direction of strip travel .and being moved by only the strips during the final advancing movement thereof, the aligning pins being so located that they are in engagement with the aligning apertures in the strips just before, while, and Just after, the strips reach writing position, said aligning pins being normally urged to move in a direction counter to the advancing movement .of the strips and imparting to the strips when engaged in the apertures a tendency toward retrograde movement.

'9. A manifolding device having a' platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced form-length extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at form-length intervals; a pair of aligning pins located at the introductory side of the platen on which pins the worksheet strips rest by gravity and travel without active resistance from the pins until the apertures in the strips are entered by the pins, said aligning pins being mounted for movement in the direction ofstrip travel and being moved by the strips alone during the final advancing movement thereof, the aligning pins being so located that they are in engagement with the aligning apertures in the strips just before, while, and just which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced form-length extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at, form-length intervals; and a single set of aligning pins at the introductory side of the platen positioned to intercept the apertures ofthe strips and to be released therefrom by the movement of the strips.

11. A manifolding device having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced form-length extents 'to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at form-length intervals; and a single set of aligning pins at the introductory side of the platen, said aligning pins being mounted for oscillation to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips and being normally urged rearwardly to impart to the strips a tendency toward retrograde movement when engaged with the aligning apertures in the strips.

12. A manifolding device having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced form-length extents to bring a fresh form to writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at form-length intervals; and

I a single set of aligning pins at the introductory sideof the platen, said aligning pins being mounted for oscillation to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips and being normally urged rearwardly to impart to the' strips a tendency toward retrograde movement when engaged with the aligning apertures in the strips, and means adjacent said pins for causing the worksheet strips to follow a tortuous path intercepting the arc of movement of the pins whereby the pins are caused to enter the apertures as a result of the tendency of the ,strips to straighten their paths as the strips are being pulled over the platen.

13. Amanifolding device having a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is advanced form-length extents to bring a fresh form to "writing position thereon, the worksheet strips having apertures at form-lengthintervals; and a single set of aligning pins at the introductory side of the platen, a shaft on which said pins are mounted for oscillatory movement to be released from the strips solely by movement of the strips, a deflector adjacent said shaft and tending to cause the strips to be urged toward the pins in their advancing movements, a frame in which said shaft and deflector are mounted, said frame having spaced bearings for the shaft and deflector to permit the positions of the latter to be varied with relation to the introductory side of the platen to accommodate forms of different lengths.

WILLIAM G. BORCHERS. 

